Sony-branded PSP to TV adaptor coming soon?
by Rafael Espiritu 
{ Feb 18th 2006 at 11:15PM }
In the middle of a report on the waning sales of UMDs in Variety magazine was a brief mention that Sony is currently shopping around the concept of putting out their own PSP to TV adapter. Explicity said as a way for Sony to "boost the format", the ability for people to easily watch UMDs on their TV sets could break the curse on the relatively weak sales numbers of UMDs by giving people a stronger reason to plunk down their cash for the more portable, if less feature-filled, version of their wanted movies and videos.
There are already other PSP-geared television adaptors out on the market today, but obtaining them can be somewhat obscure for the majority of the PSP-owning populace. The availability of a much higher profile adapter from Sony--one that could go for sale at major retailers--could convince more onlookers to consider the PSP as a viable multimedia device. We're still waiting to hear whether or not this plan pans out, but if it'll mean higher adoption rates from new buyers, we're rooting that it does.
[via Next Generation]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike @ Feb 18th 2006 11:26PM
I'd really like to see Sony make this happen. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem technically feasible. Sony didn't provide a direct line to the video output that i'm aware of. That's why you have to open the system to make that one unit work.
They could probably rig something up using the USB port, but i doubt it would work for everything (i.e. games, menus, webbrowser, etc) probably just UMD video. And I read that the remote control jack is actually a serial port, so maybe there's a change for something there.
I doubt Sony will make this happen.
Kyle @ Feb 19th 2006 12:49AM
The only problem is, without there being a video out port, the PSP to TV adaptor would have to be pretty expensive for it to be worth it (every other one either looks somewhat bad or requires you modding your PSP).
LA Dave @ Feb 19th 2006 2:06AM
I think with a firmware update and utilizing the USB port with some sort of adapter would work to output to TVs.
lordroba @ Feb 19th 2006 8:58AM
I'm not sure if it's possible, but I'm thinking they might use the USB port as a video out port and then come out with an external adapter that goes from USB to video RCA. This of course will require another firmware upgrade. :P
B1gC72 @ Feb 19th 2006 11:01AM
maybe they could come up with something that uses the USB port and a firmware upgrade or something (not exactly sure if thats possible but im just saying). that would b pretty tight and would definately boost UMD movie sales. the 3rd party, oddly shapen, mirror and camera adapters are very akward looking and the quality isnt great like an offical adapter would b. but the best part would b when people hack it so that you can play your games on TV 2 (and yes i know that defeats the purpose of it being portable but it's still tight none-the-less).
you @ Feb 19th 2006 2:20PM
woh!!! maybe with a firmware upgrade they can use the usb port for a video out!!!! did you notive like 5 of you said the same thing
cronos916 @ Feb 19th 2006 2:29PM
Wait hold on I got. What if we used the usb port?! Oh oh and maybe a firmware update?!
Oh wait the LAST 4 people said the same thing.
Murphy @ Feb 19th 2006 4:11PM
Lol, cronos916.
What Sony needs next is a portable UMD player, possibly with video out, drop to UMD prices, and raise UMD content. That will sell UMDs.
lordroba @ Feb 19th 2006 4:36PM
hmm, something screwy is going on, cause when I posted my comment, it was the second one here, but now that I came back to check what other people wrote, my comment seems to have been bumped to number three and surprise! the comment before mine says exactly what I said. It's highly probable that B1gC72 experienced the same thing cause there is no frigin way that both me and B1gC72 didn't read the previos comments.
And btw, I don't think a stand alone UMD player would ever stand a chance in the market. Why would you buy a portable UMD player when you could buy a portable DVD that lets you play A LOT more movies. And another thing, the cost of a UMD player would probably come to be about $150, so I don't see why people would buy it when they could get a multi function PSP for about $100 more. Anyways, that's just my two cents.
Tech^Cellfish @ Feb 20th 2006 6:44AM
I WANT
Badtz @ Feb 20th 2006 7:13AM
Why would you want to watch your PSP on a TV? UMD movies are 480x272 video, just like the PSP screen. I don't see how this would look any good on a regular TV. Sure, it probably wouldn't be horrible, but it would certainly look worse than a DVD, which has 480 lines of resolution.
A PSP costs $250, then you need the adapter at whatever it costs, say $50 at the minimum. That's $300 for what would easily be the lowest quality DVD player you can buy.
A DVD player can be had for less than $50, and the movies cost the same as UMDs with more resolution. Not to mention the larger selection of films available on DVD, extras, etc.
The fact that anyone would consider this adapter worth buying is hillarious in my opinion.
lordroba @ Feb 20th 2006 10:09PM
Yes, an adapter does sound like a silly idea if your just gonna watch UMD movies on your TV, but I'm sure many people, including myself wouldn't mind it for playing games. Sure, I already have a PS2 sitting in the living room, but aren't there times when you would want to continue playing your favorite PSP game on a big screen when you get home? Or how about running homebrew like snes9xTYL? (Although I'm not sure how fanjita would work around another firmware update :P)
dvr @ Feb 23rd 2006 2:07PM
It doesn't look like that it'll be worth losing the ability to run homebrew stuff. The web browser would be nice, but the Wipeout Pure method works pretty well. And, you can already put video files on your Memory Stick. I would urge PSP'ers to hold off.
Octavious @ Feb 25th 2006 7:03PM
umm, the UMD has its video at 720p...
not sure where you got your info
It's hardware scaled down, that and the constant spinning is why the battery life sucks on movies
and for those who think it cant be done, 720p on that little screen with hardware, look at the iPod, same thing, and they have whay, a 16mhz chip?
I think this would help UMD sales, if they advertise it right
~Octavious